You've probably seen them: people driving at night without the vehicle illumination system activated. If you've ever come up behind someone on a dark stretch of road and they don't have their talilights on, it can be a little unnerving. A couple of things contribute to the confusion of whether the lights are on or not. One is the Daytime Running Lights, which light up the road somewhat. But the biggest issue is that most modern vehicles have a dashboard that is illuminated day and night, whether the lighting system is on or not.
In a first for the automotive world, Canada has mandated that the dashboard lights be blacked out when the lighting system is off on all new vehilces. It will be interesting to see if other countries follow suit.
https://www.drive.com.au/news/world-...en-not-in-use/